Wandering Eyes

After an unsuccessful five-race stint in Florida and Kentucky, Alastar Thoroughbred Company and Michael Valdes' Storm the Hill got to run in her favorite spot June 24 in the $100,000 Wilshire Stakes (G3T). View the full article

Horses' test result June 23 View the full article

Duric, Saifudin, Noh, Nurshahril, Syahir suspended View the full article

With a surge to the front in mid-stretch, Eskiminzin held safe the late rally of 7-5 favorite Be Vewy Vewy Quiet to take the $100,000 Bold Ruckus Stakes by three-quarters of a length June 24 at Woodbine. View the full article

Successful international trainer Mike de Kock is planning to reduce his stable by approximately 40% following a groom strike at Randjesfontein in Johannesburg, South Africa. During the strike, armed grooms threatened trainers and assistant trainers after wage negotiations broke down. The June 21 race meeting at the Vaal, which also houses a training centre, was abandoned. “I will be reducing my string by 40%,” said de Kock on his blog on Sunday. “At this stage of my life, I’ve been wanting to train the most beautiful animals and really enjoy it along with my son, but the situation racing is in has left me wondering why I do it and questioning my own loyalty to SA racing. To have been confronted by 300 weapon-wielding, threatening grooms left a bitter taste in my mouth. When members of my family, staff and horses are threatened with death and harm it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. From now on, we’ll be living in fear and uncertainty every day. The experience of the last few days and the effects it had on my own and my family’s lives, coupled with surprise, disappointment and disbelief, has brought me to a stage where I have to say that Mike de Kock racing is now seriously considering our position in South African racing.” View the full article

Michael Dickinson is a great horse trainer. He is known on both sides of the Atlantic because of some extraordinary feats. But his knowledge of horse racing and the people involved is why I got an email from him last week. He was an amateur champion rider, then a professional jockey in England for more than a decade. But it was what he accomplished on the track that got him in the Guinness Book of Records. The Cheltenham Meet is one of the gigantic race meetings in the world. The Cheltenham Gold Cup is the highlight. Dickinson finished first, second, third, fourth and fifth in the Cheltenham Gold Cup of 1983! He also trained the winners of 12 races in one single day, the year before. In the United States, his almost unbelievable work with Da Hoss is still a legend not likely to be matched. He trained the horse to win the 1996 and 1998 Breeders’ Cup Mile despite the horse only having had one race in between, owing to injury! So, when Michael sent me an email, I took note! I had mentioned in a column for TDN last week that Jean Cruget, winner of the Triple Crown on Seattle Slew, was the only flat rider that I knew, who had also ridden in a steeplechase event. Wow, was I wrong! It seems that many of today’s leading jockeys in England and France were also stars over the jumps before they moved their tack to Thoroughbred tracks. Michael pointed out that Jim Crowley, champion U.K. flat rider of 2016, had ridden for more than 10 years over the jumps before switching to the flat. Ryan Moore, who with five winners last week captured the riding crown for the Royal Ascot meet this year, rode his first winner over the jumps on Mersey Beat for his father in 2000. Joe Fanning and Graham Lee, riding flat races this week in Great Britain, both started winning races in steeplechase events. Christophe Soumillion has been known primarily as an international flat riding star. He was crowned French champion jockey on more than one occasion, but after that went on to win the French Champion Hurdle of 2010. But the biggest surprise from Micheal Dickinson was about the the master of them all, Lester Piggott. Lester rode more than 20 winners over the jumps. Piggott, now 92 years old, is considered by many the greatest jockey in the history of horse racing. It was great to stand corrected, if for nothing more than to celebrate the great training career of Michael Dickinson and the outstanding accomplishments of jockeys who can ride on the flat and over the jumps. View the full article

You only get one chance to make a good first impression. So which side’s message resonated most effectively at last Friday’s Congressional subcommittee hearing on HR 2651, the federal bill that would implement a uniform anti-doping and medication control framework upon horse racing in the United States? Neither side scored a landslide victory. But if you momentarily suspend whatever your personal position is on the Horseracing Integrity Act and take in the testimony through the eyes and ears of a newcomer to our complex industry (like the politicians on the Commerce and Consumer Protection subcommittee all are), the talking-point edge went to the side that wants to preserve the status quo. Testifying in support of HR 2651 at the June 22 hearing were Stuart Janney III (chairman of The Jockey Club), Craig Fravel (chief executive of the Breeders’ Cup), and Kitty Block (acting president and chief executive of The Humane Society of the United States). Testifying in opposition were Alan Foreman (chairman and chief executive of the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, Inc.), Eric Hamelback (chief executive of the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association), and Ed Martin (president, Association of Racing Commissioners International). The opposers brought the more straightforward, easy-to-grasp narrative. It was punctuated by vivid examples that touched on populism and nationalism (both are big in Washington these days, in case you haven’t noticed), and it laid out the dire consequences that would allegedly occur if legislators decided to mess with the current system: An national unwanted horse crisis, a “chilling” of America’s horse-sale economy, a massive outflux of Thoroughbred owners from the game, and a raft of new, unknown costs from hazy funding sources to pay for the entire thing. The key verbal points on the pro-legislation side were struck a little less forcefully, even though they were rooted in a sincere “what’s best for the horse” focal point. Federal intervention, supporters argued, is needed to quell doping and related public-perception woes that the industry can’t solve on its own. Day-to-day racing needs help because it can’t keep up with the level of testing that exists at the sport’s elite events. There is a growing danger of adverse global ramifications in our domestic bloodstock marketplace if the current, too-permissive medication standards persist. Those seeking the government’s help expressed an over-arching need to preserve and grow the sport for future generations. The anti-oversight side also lodged the most effective subtle digs, like repeatedly referring to the pro-legislation side as the “minority.” That’s a subjective descriptor that isn’t easily backed up by numbers–yet the characterization was never refuted or challenged by the industry leaders being portrayed as a fringe group seeking allegedly unnecessary help from Congress. (In actuality, the “majority” side in this fight is probably best represented by industry participants who are stuck on middle ground–they view the status quo as untenable, yet are leery of partnering with the feds to oversee the sport). But don’t just take my word for how well the opposition articulated its points. Midway through the proceedings, Rep. David McKinley (R-WV) stated for the record that it “fascinated” him how much verbal fire the bill’s opposers brought to their arguments (read more detail of his comments here). Yet when McKinley invited HR 2651’s supporters to poke holes in the opposition’s arguments by explaining to the committee exactly where the naysayers had it wrong, no one on the pro side could effectively step up to the plate and knock the Congressman’s open-ended softball question out of the park. In fact, the most cogent plank in the argument for advancing HR 2651 didn’t even come from one of the pro-bill witnesses. It was lodged by Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), who pointed out that “Congress does have a role on the commerce side of it when it crosses state lines, even when it comes to sports [and] really, that’s the end or the beginning of our conversation.” This distinction, he added, will be a crucial factor in deciding whether the bill advances or not, and the pro-oversight side should consider giving that point more emphasis in future lobbying efforts. Each elected official had a strict five-minute time limit for questioning, so if a witness started to digress, they were politely but firmly cut off and the politician would either ask a different question or move on to somebody else. The pace was brisk, and the format favored respondents who answered straightforwardly in succinct sound bites. In that respect, the witness who gave his constituency the most bang for its buck was Hamelback. Right away, the HBPA boss put the pro-legislation proponents back on their defensive heels by openly challenging them to bear the burden of proof as to why federal intervention is necessary, “because statistically it’s not, plain and simple.” He swatted away concerns about poor global perceptions of U.S. racing by declaring “as the son of a Marine and a United States American, I’m not sure that I really worry about what they do internationally.” And when the hearing got bogged down on the Lasix issue (as it repeatedly did), Hamelback humanized the diuretic’s use by declaring it to be a safe medicine that he takes every day to control his own high blood pressure, “no different than Advil.” Although it was unlikely part of anyone’s intentional game plan, the constant circling back to the Lasix issue (by both sides) probably ended up helping the anti-legislation camp because the complex topic was bound to befuddle the legislators. Even if you’re deeply ingrained in the Thoroughbred industry, the pro-vs.-con nuances of medication reform can be difficult to fully understand. The sense I got from listening to the dizzying, often conflicting Lasix testimony (again, trying to approach this from the perspective of the politicians) is that the whole thing might be too bewildering and murky for Congress to want to confidently dive in and impose changes. In fairness, it can be argued that the pro-legislation side was shorthanded by one industry expert even though both sides were represented by three qualified witnesses. As the top official at the Humane Society, Block’s expertise is firmly rooted in animal-welfare advocacy, and as such she could not provide the depth of Thoroughbred industry-specific testimony that Janney and Fravel were able to. The next step in the legislative process will be for the subcommittee to report findings from this hearing to the full Energy and Commerce committee. But before you make odds on HR 2651’s potential passage into law, consider this: In 2015, when a similar version of this legislation was first introduced, GovTrack (a legislative transparency organization that uses logistic regression analysis to rank the likelihood of passage of the 10,000 bills that come up annually in Congress), estimated that the Horseracing Integrity Act had only a 2% chance of being enacted. In June 2016, the GovTrack estimation rose to a 4% chance of passage. In October 2017, several months after the current version of legislation had been filed, the odds upticked again, to 5%. And in the weeks prior to Friday’s hearing, the percentage of passage remained steady at an all-time high of 12%. But on June 24, two days after the hearing, GovTrack recalculated its estimation drastically, slicing the likelihood that HR 2651 will get enacted into law to 3%. View the full article

Following an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of a Belmont Park backstretch worker from symptoms consistent with hantavirus, the New York State Department of Health announced that the virus was not present in the deceased individual late in the day Saturday. After tests on clinical specimens were conducted at federal Centers for Disease Control, it was determined that the worker died as a result of a bacterial infection. The Department of Health stated that the probable cause of the death was bacterial sepsis, a condition in which the infectious agent, a common bacteria known as Klebsiella, has spread throughout the body. The deceased individual was found unconscious on June 1 outside the Belmont backstretch housing unit and was transported to a hospital. While hantavirus has been ruled out, NYRA said they are efforting to improve overall backstretch housing conditions. “NYRA is committed to modernizing backstretch facilities at Belmont Park to support the health and well-being of the backstretch community,” said Patrick McKenna, director of communications at NYRA. “NYRA will continue to address pest control measures throughout Belmont Park and will implement all of New York State’s recommendations.” To that end, a number of employees who were living in substandard housing were relocated, and NYRA has agreed to revamp its pest control processes to include more preventative measures and greater trapping and control practices. View the full article

You only get one chance to make a good first impression. So which side’s message resonated most effectively at last Friday’s Congressional subcommittee hearing on HR 2651, the federal bill that would implement a uniform anti-doping and medication control framework upon horse racing in the United States? The vote here goes to those who spoke out in opposition to federally mandated independent oversight and the banishment of race-day medication. Neither side scored a landslide victory. But if you momentarily suspend whatever your personal position is on the Horseracing Integrity Act and take in the testimony through the eyes and ears of a newcomer to our complex industry (like the politicians on the Commerce and Consumer Protection subcommittee all are), the talking-point edge goes decidedly to the side that wants to preserve the status quo. Testifying in support of HR 2651 at the June 22 hearing were Stuart Janney III (chairman of The Jockey Club), Craig Fravel (chief executive of the Breeders’ Cup), and Kitty Block (acting president and chief executive of The Humane Society of the United States). Testifying in opposition were Alan Foreman (chairman and chief executive of the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, Inc.), Eric Hamelback (chief executive of the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association), and Ed Martin (president, Association of Racing Commissioners International). The opposition simply brought the more straightforward, easy-to-grasp narrative. It was punctuated by vivid examples that touched on populism and nationalism (both are big in Washington these days, in case you haven’t noticed), and it laid out the dire consequences that would allegedly occur if legislators decided to mess with the current system: A national unwanted horse crisis, a “chilling” of America’s horse-sale economy, a massive outflux of Thoroughbred owners from the game, and a raft of new, unknown costs from hazy funding sources to pay for the entire thing. The key verbal points on the pro-legislation side were struck a little less forcefully, even though they were rooted in a sincere “what’s best for the horse” focal point. Federal intervention, supporters argued, is needed to quell doping and its related public-perception woes that the industry can’t solve on its own. Day-to-day racing needs help because it can’t keep up with the level of testing that exists at the sport’s elite events. There is a growing danger of adverse global ramifications in our domestic bloodstock marketplace if the current, too-permissive medication standards persist. Those seeking the government’s help expressed an over-arching need to preserve and grow the sport for future generations. The anti-oversight side also lodged the most effective subtle digs, like repeatedly referring to the pro-legislation side as the “minority.” That’s a subjective descriptor that isn’t easily backed up by numbers–yet the characterization was never refuted or challenged by the industry leaders being portrayed as a fringe group seeking allegedly unnecessary help from Congress. (In actuality, the “majority” side in this fight is probably best represented by industry participants who are stuck on middle ground–they view the status quo as untenable, yet are leery of partnering with the feds to oversee the sport). But don’t just take my word for how well the opposition articulated its points. Midway through the proceedings, Rep. David McKinley (R-WV) stated for the record that it “fascinated” him how much verbal fire the bill’s opposers brought to their arguments (read more detail of his comments here). Yet when McKinley invited HR 2651’s supporters to poke holes in the opposition’s arguments by explaining to the committee exactly where the naysayers had it wrong, no one on the pro side could effectively step up to the plate and knock the Congressman’s open-ended softball question out of the park. In fact, the most cogent plank in the argument for advancing HR 2651 didn’t even come from one of the pro-bill witnesses. It was lodged by Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), who pointed out that “Congress does have a role on the commerce side of it when it crosses state lines, even when it comes to sports [and] really, that’s the end or the beginning of our conversation.” This distinction, he added, will be a crucial factor in deciding whether the bill advances or not, and the pro-oversight side should consider giving that point more emphasis in future lobbying efforts. Each elected official had a strict five-minute time limit for questioning, so if a witness started to digress, they were politely but firmly cut off and the politician would either ask a different question or move on to somebody else. The pace was brisk, and the format favored respondents who answered straightforwardly in succinct sound bites. In that respect, the witness who gave his constituency the most bang for its buck was Hamelback. Right away, the HBPA boss put the pro-legislation proponents back on their defensive heels by openly challenging them to bear the burden of proof as to why federal intervention is necessary, “because statistically it’s not, plain and simple.” He swatted away concerns about poor global perceptions of U.S. racing by declaring “as the son of a Marine and a United States American, I’m not sure that I really worry about what they do internationally.” And when the hearing got bogged down on the Lasix issue (as it repeatedly did), Hamelback humanized the diuretic’s use by declaring it to be a safe medicine that he takes every day to control his own high blood pressure, “no different than Advil.” Although it was unlikely part of anyone’s intentional game plan, the constant circling back to the Lasix issue (by both sides) probably ended up helping the anti-legislation camp because the complex topic was bound to befuddle the legislators. Even if you’re deeply ingrained in the Thoroughbred industry, the pro-vs.-con nuances of medication reform can be difficult to fully understand. The sense I got from listening to the dizzying, often conflicting Lasix testimony (again, trying to approach this from the perspective of the politicians) is that the whole thing might be too bewildering and murky for Congress to want to confidently dive in and impose changes. In fairness, it can be argued that the pro-legislation side was shorthanded by one industry expert even though both sides were represented by three qualified witnesses. As the top official at the Humane Society, Block’s expertise is firmly rooted in animal-welfare advocacy, and as such she could not provide the depth of Thoroughbred industry-specific testimony that Janney and Fravel were able to. The next step in the legislative process will be for the subcommittee to report findings from this hearing to the full Energy and Commerce committee. But before you make odds on HR 2651’s potential passage into law, consider this: In 2015, when a similar version of this legislation was first introduced, GovTrack (a legislative transparency organization that uses logistic regression analysis to rank the likelihood of passage of the 10,000 bills that come up annually in Congress), estimated that the Horseracing Integrity Act had only a 2% chance of being enacted. In June 2016, the GovTrack estimation rose to a 4% chance of passage. In October 2017, several months after the current version of legislation had been filed, the odds upticked again, to 5%. And in the weeks prior to Friday’s hearing, the percentage of passage remained steady at its all-time high of 12%. But on June 24, two days after the hearing, GovTrack recalculated its estimation drastically, slicing the likelihood that HR 2651 will get enacted into law back down to 3%. View the full article

Mikki Rocket (Jpn) (Kingkamehameha {Jpn}) returned to the winner’s circle in style at Hanshin on Sunday, with a gritty neck victory over Hong Kong Horse of the Year Werther (NZ) (Tavistock {NZ}) in the G1 Takarazuka Kinen over 2200 metres, a “Win And You’re In” for the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf at Churchill Downs in November. It was the first win for the Hidetaka Otonashi trainee since the G2 Nikkei Shinshun Hai at Kyoto in January of 2017. Sent off at 13-1, the 5-year-old entire was away to an alert beginning and secured a ground-saving trip in seventh over the good turf course, as Saimon Ramesses (Jpn) (Black Tide {Jpn}) scampered to an open-length advantage. By the half-mile pole, the dark bay had inched into fourth under Ryuji Wada. As soon as a hole opened one off the fence 500 metres out, Mikki Rocket dashed through, seized command and set sail for the wire. Werther, who had raced near the tail of the field for the majority of the race, wove his way toward the vanguard with a quarter mile to travel and let down strongly out in the center of the course. The Kiwi-bred’s admirable late charge was a neck short at the line, three lengths to the good of Noble Mars (Jpn) (Jungle Pocket {Jpn}). Favoured Satono Diamond (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) could only manage sixth after racing well off the pace. “Mikki Rocket was in great shape after a good fourth in the Tenno Sho [Spring] and in training towards this race so I was secretly thinking that maybe it was time that he deserved to be a Group 1 winner–I am relieved and happy,” said Otonashi. “He has overcome his bad habit of missing his break which gives him a better chance in the race, and his position in the race was up to my rider to decide as he knows the horse well. I just prayed that he’d make it to the finish as Werther came strongly from behind.” Added Wada, “I was determined to choose a nice firm route as the turf dried off after the rainy weather and we were lucky to take hold of a nice position from a smooth break today. I wasn’t aware of Werther coming from behind me, but I was awed by my horse’s ability to maintain his speed all the way to the wire.” Werther, who had just returned from a three-month ban after a bleeding episode with a sixth in the G3 Lion Rock Trophy H. on June 3, and is aiming for the G1 Longines Hong Kong Cup in December, had the services of Aussie Hugh Bowman. “To be honest, even though we didn’t win, I couldn’t have been happier with the horse’s performance,” said Bowman. “At the top of the straight, I thought he was going to win, and I thought I had the winner covered at the 200m, but at the line, I felt the winner was going away from me. It’s disappointing, you always want to win, but he’s still run the race of his life even in defeat.” Second in the Dec. 9 G3 Chunichi Shimbun Hai going 2000 metres at Chukyo, Mikki Rocket was only fourth in his 4-year-old baow, the G2 Nikkei Shinshun Hai at Kyoto on Jan. 14. Going this trip in the G2 Kyoto Kinen at Kyoto on Feb. 11, the dark bay was seventh, but when upped to two miles in the G1 Tenno Sho (Spring) rebounded slightly with a fourth on Apr. 29. Pedigree Notes… Mikki Rocket is the 12th Group 1 winner for his sire. Out of English MSW Moneycantbuymelove, he is followed by the winners Piece d’Or (Jpn) (Stay Gold {Jpn}) and Danon Poppy (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}) and a 2-year-old filly by Lord Kanaloa (Jpn). His winning second dam Sabreon (GB) (Caerleon) is a half-sister to French Classic hero Landseer (GB), Danehill), as well as SW and G1 Prince of Wales’s S. third Ikhtyar (Ire) (Unfuwain). Sunday, Hanshin, Japan TAKARAZUKA KINEN-G1, ¥290,800,000 (US$/£/€/A$), Hanshin, 6-24, 3yo/up, 2200mT, 2:11.60, gd. 1–MIKKI ROCKET (JPN), 128, h, 5, by King Kamehameha (Jpn) 1st Dam: Moneycantbuymelove (Ire) (MSW & G1SP-Eng, $142,634), by Pivotal (GB) 2nd Dam: Sabreon (GB), by Caerleon 3rd Dam: Sabria, by Miswaki O-Mizuki Noda; (¥92,000,000 Ylg ’14 JRHJUL). B-Northern Racing (Jpn); T-Hidetaka Otonashi; J-Ryuji Wada; ¥153,360,000. Lifetime Record: 22-5-6-0, ¥362,478,000. Werk Nick Rating: C. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. 2–Werther (NZ), 128, g, 7, Tavistock (NZ)–Bagalollies (Aus), by Zabeel (NZ). O-Johnsen Chen; B-C Allison, C & J Barnao, et al (NZ); T-John Moore; ¥60,960,000. 3–Noble Mars (Jpn), 128, h, 5, Jungle Pocket (Jpn)–I And You, by Silver Hawk. O-Nobuhiko Yoshiki; B-Tagami Farm (Jpn); T-Hiroshi Miyamoto; ¥38,480,000. Margins: NK, 3, NK. Odds: 13.10, 13.90, 39.00. Also Ran: Vivlos (Jpn), Danburite (Jpn), Satono Diamond (Jpn), Staphanos (Jpn), Kiseki (Jpn), Perform A Promise (Jpn), Smart Layer (Jpn), Strong Titan, Satono Crown (Jpn), Albert (Jpn), Seewind (Jpn), Tatsu Gogeki (Jpn), Saimon Ramesses (Jpn). Click for the Racing Post chart or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. JRA Video. View the full article

A day after Magnum Moon suffered a career-ending injury during a workout June 23 at Belmont Park, the grade 1-winning colt has come out of surgery to repair his injury and is doing as well as could be expected. View the full article

Jessica Harrington achieved a bucket list ambition when Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) became her first Royal Ascot winner when slamming her rivals in the G1 Coronation S. last Friday and the trainer is eyeing another potential ‘first’ with the Niarchos family owned filly later in the season. Speaking on Racing UK on Sunday Harrington said the Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs in November would probably be her end of season aim. “The Breeders’ Cup Mile would definitely enter calculations. I know that’s their [owners] love and it would be lovely if everything goes all right and if she stays in training next year,” Harrington said. In the meantime the filly has no shortage of options but the one thing that will determine her targets is ground conditions. The only time the dual Group 1 winner has underperformed is when the word ‘soft’ appeared in the going description. “She’s in the Falmouth [at Newmarket], whether that comes a bit quick for her I don’t know, she got back yesterday and seemed fine. The only thing I have said is that I will not run her on soft ground, that goes without saying. She’s also in the Irish Champion Stakes, I suppose she’ll be put into the Matron and I know that the Niarchos Family sponsor the Jacques le Marois at Deauville and there was talk that she would go there also,” she added. View the full article

Elite Invincible (Ire) (Archarcharch) hinted that there could be something under the hood when racing as Qatar Man during the early portion of his career, with a runner-up effort in last year’s Listed Al Bastakiya S. over the dirt course at Meydan then a high-water mark when trained for his breeder Mubarak al Naemi by Marco Botti. Subsequently scooped up by the Elite Performance Stable for 150,000gns at the 2017 Tattersalls July Sale, the Irish-bred son of US-expat sire Archarcharch has zoomed through the rankings since making a winning Singapore debut over the Polytrack last December and hit the heights Sunday with a narrow success in the S$1-million Charity Bowl, a steppingstone to the Emirates Singapore Derby (1800m) July 15. Ideally drawn in gate two, Elite Invincible was hustled along by Vlad Duric and eventually settled handy to the pace from fourth down the back on the long course. Racing with cover on the turn, Elite Invincible was guided into the three path and came calling for the lead with about 200m to travel. Jupiter Gold (Aus) (Congrats) was there with every chance and stablemate Kingsman (NZ) (Darci Brahma {NZ}) rallied strongly down the center of the track, but Elite Invincible got there first to score for the fifth time in eight Kranji runs. “We had a good draw and I got him into a nice spot on the back of Countofmontecristo (NZ) (Echoes of Heaven {Aus}) early,” said Duric. “I popped him off the fence before straightening, and he moved up beautifully. But I had a few anxious moments when we hit the front a bit too soon.” Elite Invincible’s third dam, Save Me the Waltz was a half-sister to Last Tycoon (Ire) and was herself responsible for US GISW Sense of Style (Thunder Gulch) and English GSW & MG1SP Valentine Waltz (Ire) (Be My Guest). The winner was sold in utero for $17,000 at the 2013 Keeneland November sale. Sunday, Kranji, Singapore GIOVANNI RACING CHARITY BOWL (2ND LEG SINGAPORE 4YO CHALLENGE), S$1,000,000 (£555,077/€631,598/A$988,951/US$736,065), Kranji, 6-24, 4yo, 1600mT, 1:34.31, gd. 1–ELITE INVINCIBLE (IRE), 126, g, 4, by Archarcharch 1st Dam: Dough On the Go, by Bernardini 2nd Dam: Out of Woods, by Woodman 3rd Dam: Save Me the Waltz (Ire), by Kings Lake (150,000gns HRA ’17 TATJUL). O-Elite Performance Stable; B-Mubarak al Naemi; T-Mark Walker; J-Vlad Duric; S$595,000. Lifetime Record: SP-UAE, 14-6-4-1, $899,148. *Formerly Qatar Man (Ire). 2–Kingsman (NZ), 126, g, 4, Darci Brahma (NZ)–Society Lady (NZ), by O’Reilly (NZ). (NZ$80,000 Ylg ’15 NZBSEL). O-Te Akau Racing Stable. S$212,500. 3–Jupiter Gold (Aus), 126, g, 4, Congrats–Contented (Aus), by More Than Ready. (A$130,000 Ylg ’15 MMGCYS). O-Jupiter Gold Stable. S$107,500. Margins: HD, 3/4, 1. Odds: 2.00, 36.80, 5.00. Also Ran: Only Win, Countofmontecristo (NZ), Could Be Pearls (NZ), Lim’s Magic (Aus), Mr Exchequer (NZ), Lim’s Regard (NZ), Claudia’s Beauty (Aus), Meet and Greet (Aus). Click for the Singapore Turf Club chart. VIDEO. View the full article

Nearly three months after their synchronous debut made global headlines, the rare Thoroughbred twins Mr. Ping and Mr. Pong are still in search of their first victory. The journey continues June 24 when Mr. Ping starts at Mountaineer. View the full article

Clive Cox is cautiously optimistic the injury sustained by Harry Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) in the stalls just as the field got underway in the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. at Ascot on Saturday is not as serious as originally feared. “He has a cut on his near hind fetlock joint which was very concerning. That was flushed and the vets did a very good job at the racecourse and were very helpful indeed. He’s a little bit stiff this morning but a couple of hours after the race he’d improved a lot,” Cox said on Sunday. Despite the cut Harry Angel completed the race but was eased inside the last furlong by jockey Adam Kirby and while the episode was disappointing for connections Cox is aware it could have been worse and he is quite hopeful to have the Godolphin owned colt back on track again before too long. “I’m hoping in light of the situation that we may have got out of this lightly. It’s a superficial cut but it’s on a joint so there’s not a lot of flesh there. The concern was potential infection but we’ve treated that accordingly. He’ll be quiet for a week to protect it but it’s a bit early to say if he’ll be running in the July Cup, we’ll just sit on it for a week.” The incident sees Harry Angel’s bad run of luck at Ascot continue and it is the only course at which he has been beaten having now met with defeat on five occasions at the Berkshire venue. View the full article

And so, 250 years after the meeting was first staged, Royal Ascot is behind us once more. It is wholly appropriate that the last of the 30 races of the week is the Queen Alexandra, the longest of the entire Flat season and one for which the horses require as much stamina as the racing fans and fashionistas who complete the marathon five-day trip, feet much wearier, wallet a little lighter, belt perhaps a tad tighter. It is hard to imagine another sport which has such rituals entwined in its annual function. However much one loves or loathes the fashionable frivolity of Ascot, with its archaic doffing of tops hats and bowing and curtseying to the monarchy, there’s no denying that its strictly observed customs make it special beyond any other meeting. Leaving aside the real equine stars of the show for one moment, on a personal level Royal Ascot is about meeting the same friendly faces in the same picnicking spot year after year and knowing that, though time may take its toll on our ability to maintain a strong pace throughout the long drawn out carnival, we’ll arrive each time at the start with a shared sense of unbridled anticipation. In Tune With History Major dispersals of recent years have included those from the Wildenstein and Ballymacoll breeding empires. There’s something terribly poignant about such apparent endings but perhaps they should be viewed in a different light, as a beginning for other breeders, or at least for those remaining breeders content to play the long game. Long before the Wildenstein stock was dispersed en masse, however, the Bering filly Private Life (Fr) left the fold as a 4-year-old in 2001. The grand-daughter of the 1976 dual Oaks and King George winner Pawneese (GB) took her time to settle but eventually ended up in the broodmare band of Bjorn Nielsen, having for a time been owned by German breeder Dr Christoph Berglar, who sold her in 2006 while carrying to Azamour (Ire). Tom Goff then bought her for 70,000gns for Nielsen, who sent her to Dansili (GB) then Peintre Celebre before Sea The Stars (Ire) for the mating that would provide both her final foal and her greatest triumph—Stradivarius (Ire). The 4-year-old’s victory in the oldest race of Royal Ascot, the Gold Cup, was just reward for an owner-breeder who has stuck resolutely to his aims of racing and breeding top-class middle-distance and staying horses. The South African-born Nielsen, who grew up in Epsom, understandably has the Derby as his main aim but already has one British Classic to his name through the 2011 St Leger victory of Masked Marvel (GB) (Montjeu {Ire}). And if one should feel for Dr Berglar in this story, it is worth noting that he reinvested in the same family a year later when buying Patineuse (Ire) (Peintre Celebre), a daughter of Private Life’s half-sister Parisienne (Ire) (Distant Relative {GB}). She has since given him Protectionist (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}), winner of that other rather famous staying contest, the Melbourne Cup. Heavenly Beginning In similar vein, last year’s Ballymacoll Stud dispersal is already starting to reap dividends for those who invested in the stock nurtured by the Weinstock family and manager Peter Reynolds. While most eyes were on Royal Ascot, the juvenile Miss Celestial (Ire) made a winning debut at Lingfield for Sir Mark Prescott, her sire Exceed And Excel (Aus) adding a bit of zip to a family also responsible for the St Leger winner Conduit (Ire) (Dalakhani {Ire}). Bought from the dispersal by William Huntingdon and Liam Norris for 180,000gns, it’s pleasing that the daughter of Liber Nauticus (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}) is now in the hands of John Pearce Racing, the nom de course of Edmond Bush, who inherited the racing and breeding stock of his great uncle, John Pearce. The owner-breeder, who died last year at the age of 98, held, like Bjorn Nielsen, a long-term ambition to win the Derby. This he so nearly achieved with Dragon Dancer (GB) (Sadler’s Wells), beaten a short-head by Sir Percy (GB) (Mark Of Esteem {Ire}) in 2006. Bush is continuing in this Classic aim and will eventually add Miss Celestial to a select band of broodmares which board at Lanwades Stud and include last year’s purchase Best Friend (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), a sister to the treble Group 1 winner Lush Lashes (Ire). He says, “It was my late uncle’s wish that his breeding and racing interests should continue in the form of John Pearce Racing and our ultimate goal remains to breed and race a Derby winner in John’s famous blue and while silks. We are keen to preserve the legacy of his longstanding homebred families whilst also rejuvenating the broodmare band. “Miss Celestial looks an exciting prospect from a lovely family and we are very pleased with her first outing.” The Andrew Balding-trained Pivoine (Ire) (Redoute’s Choice{Aus}) was another recent winning Ballymacoll graduate, scoring by six lengths at Sandown in the colours of King Power Racing, who bought the 4-year-old gelding for 340,000gns. Aim Of Artemis (Ire) (Leroidesanimaux {BRZ}), who sold for 1,000,000gns in December, found the step into Group 1 company a little much for her in the Coronation S. following her first victory in the Godolphin blue a fortnight earlier, but she remains an interesting prospect. It’s also worth looking out for Floria Tosca (Ire), a 260,000gns purchase at the December Sale by Fittocks Stud, who is entered in a Bath maiden for Luca Cumani on Wednesday. As a daughter of Shamardal and the great Islington (Ire) she will make a lovely addition to the Cumanis’ breeding operation in due course, whatever the outcome. Back in the summer of ’69 An obsession for horses who won major races in the year I was born means that I have a dog named Blakeney after the first of the brilliant Arthur Budgett’s homebred Derby-winning half-brothers. Park Top is right up beside Blakeney on that pedestal. The Duke of Devonshire’s great filly is best remembered for her glorious summer of ’69 and her triumphs in the Coronation Cup and King George. Her owner’s passion is well documented in one of the most charming racehorse biographies of all time, A Romance Of The Turf, which is matched only by Lord Oaksey’s story of Mill Reef. A Romance of the Turf is written by the owner himself, however, and in an epilogue some 30 years after Park Top retired from racing, the duke reminisced, “Although to non-racing people this may seem trivial, owning Park Top was one of the great emotional experiences of my life.” For all her brilliance on the racecourse, Park Top was consistently beset by misfortune throughout her breeding career. Her first foal, Willow Song, arrived two months early with a twisted hind leg. In this more commercial age she might well not have been persisted with but, as she grew a little and the leg improved, she was sent, like her mother before her, to be trained by Bernard Van Cutsem. Her breeder never lost faith in the filly who grew only to 14.3 hands and was placed once in four races. He remarked of her record, “She showed immense courage and gave all she had.” How fitting then that almost 50 years after Park Top made Ascot her own with victories in the Hardwicke S, followed up by the King George, her descendant Shang Shang Shang (Shanghai Bobby)—who bears the diminutive Willow Song as her fifth dam—should fly home in the Norfolk S. As in all good love stories, the romance never dies. Arthurian Legend There are echoes of the Park Top story in the more modern tale of triumph and adversity told after the Chesham S. win of Arthur Kitt (GB) (Camelot {GB}). As a homebred Royal Ascot winner, it had been hoped that the colt’s dam Ceiling Kitty (GB) (Red Clubs {Ire}) would become a lynchpin of Andrew Black’s Chasemore Farm operation. Her death during foaling was thus a cruel blow for the Betfair founder-turned-breeder who would doubtless relate to the Duke of Devonshire’s “emotional experience”. After that cold February night as the newborn Camelot colt gasped for his own life so soon after his mother’s had ended, any breeder would have been permitted to dream a little, seeking hope in an otherwise grim situation. Less than two and a half years later, racing’s pendulum swung back in favour of Black when the unbeaten Arthur Kitt won the race that had been in his breeder’s mind since before he was even conceived. “People have criticised me and said that I was a bit arrogant for saying that I was trying to do this and trying to do that,” said Black on Sunday morning. “But I don’t think it’s arrogant to try to do something and with Arthur Kitt, when I was thinking about the mating, I was thinking about the Chesham, and that was in my mind when I sent the mare to Camelot. It’s amazing to have that kind of long-term plan play out. It’s good for your self-belief and it’s good for all the team at Chasemore Farm. It helps everyone to believe in what we’re doing.” Arthur Kitt is based alongside his year-older winning half-sister Formidable Kitt (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) at Tom Dascombe’s Manor House Stables, which is part-owned by Black with Michael Owen, while Ceiling Kitty’s listed-winning daughter Eartha Kitt (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) is at Chasemore Farm carrying her first foal by Frankel (GB). Maher’s Hair-Raising Adventure One of the more extraordinary sights of the Royal meeting was seeing Ciaron Maher’s gloriously long curly locks making a desperate bid for freedom from beneath his top hat. The Australian played a part in Aidan O’Brien again being crowned leading trainer at the meeting as he was the former trainer of Merchant Navy (Aus), having bought him as a yearling at the Inglis Easter Sale for A$350,000. “It is a credit to the team and the staff, he has come right through our system,” said Maher after the son of Fastnet Rock (Aus) held off City Light by a nose in the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. “We bought him as a yearling, we broke him in and he has developed all the way, he is just a phenomenal horse.” He added, “I had never been here before to Royal Ascot, everyone said that it is a testing six furlongs and I really thought that would suit him because he has got an unbelievable lung capacity. I thought it would be an ideal race for him and to see it all come to fruition and come off, it is unbelievable. It doesn’t get any bigger than here, really.” Maher also worked his way into the unsaddling enclosure for the final race of the day with the Joseph O’Brien-trained Light Pillar (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who finished fourth behind Pallasator (GB) (Motivator {GB}) in the Queen Alexandra. While the winner is scheduled to make an appearance in the Tattersalls July Sale as lot 864, Light Pillar has recently been bought by Maher for the Rafferty’s Rules Syndicate and it would be no surprise to see the 4-year-old among his string in Australia. The trainer himself has a different challenge on his plate in the meantime, however, as he will be lining up for the fiendishly difficult Mongol Derby on Aug. 3. He faces stiff competition, not just from fellow Aussie Rob Archibald, the husband of Francesca Cumani who is now assistant trainer to David Simcock, but also TDN‘s own Kelsey Riley, who is raising funds for the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation’s Second Chances Program. We wish them all godspeed. View the full article

Aidan O’Brien finished up Royal Ascot week as the meeting’s leading trainer with four winners from 52 runners and while it was inevitable that some reputations were slightly dented over the five days, the trainer was keen to take plenty of positives from the performances of some of the beaten Ballydoyle runners. One in particular was Sergei Prokofiev (CAN) (Scat Daddy) who finished third to Calyx (GB) (Kingman {GB}) in the G2 Coventry S. on Tuesday. “He ran very well. He was drawn on the other side to the winner but Ryan [Moore] was very happy with him,” O’Brien said. “He is a big horse but we’ve not forced him in any way yet. We think he is going to be a horse to look forward to.” Sergei Prokofiev earned a ‘TDN Rising Star‘ when winning over five furlongs at Navan in April and while he appeared to have no trouble with the extra furlong last week O’Brien has no plans to try him over any further for the time being. “He was always going to step up to six furlongs and he will probably even get further than that. We were very happy with the run. Something like the [G1] Prix Morny [Aug. 19] we could look at but we won’t be in any panic with him. He obviously has the [G1 Keeneland] Phoenix [Aug. 12 at The Curragh] that he could go for as well.” Another O’Brien horse that could revert to six furlongs after three consecutive runs over a mile is U S Navy Flag (War Front). The full-brother to Roly Poly is a Group 1 winner over six furlongs as a juvenile and after setting a strong gallop in the G1 St James’s Palace S. on Tuesday he weakened in the last furlong to finish in rear behind Without Parole (GB) (Frankel {GB}). “U S Navy Flag is a very fast horse and there is every chance he might sharpen up in trip after this. There was always a possibility that would happen as he is fast and he wants to get it done. He is a Middle Park winner at the end of the day. The July Cup is obviously a possibility but it’s not been decided yet,” O’Brien said. Meanwhile G1 Investec Epsom Derby fourth Saxon Warrior (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) was the subject of positive report ahead of the colt’s next mission in the G1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at The Curragh on Saturday. “He seems good and Donnacha rode him in his work on Saturday. It is so far so good and the plan is to go for the Irish Derby and we are looking forward to that,” O’Brien said. The G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas winner lost his unbeaten record at Epsom and scuppered previously held Triple Crown aspirations and O’Brien is very much hoping Saxon Warrior can redeem himself at the weekend. “He ran a great race at Epsom. He was a little bit at sea on the track. He was a little bit babyish in his mind and found the whole experience different. Ryan looked after him, which was the right thing to do and he came out the race very well, which the main thing. We think he will have grown up and learnt a lot for that experience.” View the full article

Back when he was in the saddle and the undisputed golden boy of Hong Kong racing, Tony Cruz aimed to be a big-race specialist and it seems he is wresting the mantle from rival John Moore as the top stakes-race trainer as well if recent results are any indication. California Whip’s win in the Group Three Premier Cup meant Cruz has swept the last seven Group races of the season, a hot streak that stretches back to Pakistan Star’s astonishing victory in the Audemars Piguet QE II Cup on... View the full article

Back when he was in the saddle and the undisputed golden boy of Hong Kong racing, Tony Cruz aimed to be a big-race specialist and it seems he is wresting the mantle from rival John Moore as the top stakes-race trainer as well if recent results are any indication. California Whip’s win in the Group Three Premier Cup meant Cruz has swept the last seven Group races of the season, a hot streak that stretches back to Pakistan Star’s astonishing victory in the Audemars Piguet QE II Cup on... View the full article

Sometimes “winning pretty” isn’t the point and while Zac Purton’s decision to back Exultant’s superior staying ability in the Group Three Premier Plate may not win him ride of the season, it was smarter than it looked. Purton went into the 1,800m race on Tony Cruz’s dour four-year-old believing his only genuine threat was stablemate Gold Mount and knowing that top weight of 133 pounds could dull his already one-paced horse’s turn of foot even further.... View the full article

Sometimes “winning pretty” isn’t the point and while Zac Purton’s decision to back Exultant’s superior staying ability in the Group Three Premier Plate may not win him ride of the season, it was smarter than it looked. Purton went into the 1,800m race on Tony Cruz’s dour four-year-old believing his only genuine threat was stablemate Gold Mount and knowing that top weight of 133 pounds could dull his already one-paced horse’s turn of foot even further.... View the full article

Magic Millions hosted their one-day Perth Winter Sale at Belmont on Sunday and the catalogue’s standout lot Ellicazoom (Aus) (Testa Rossa {Aus}) certainly did not disappoint when selling for A$420,000. The stakes winning 4-year-old was offered as lot 159 by Mogumber Park as a racing and breeding prospect and was purchased by New South Wales based Kitchwin Hills. “She’s a quality mare and they were very hard to get on the Gold Coast,” the farm’s Mick Malone said. “A lot of mares like her were hard to buy in Queensland and I love Testa Rossa and always wanted a quality Testa mare on the farm. We are really happy to get her. She will be put into work on the eastern seaboard for maybe one preparation depending on how she goes. Ultimately we bought her as a broodmare but we will try and give her a campaign before heading to stud,” he added. Ellicazoom has been narrowly beaten three times at Group 2 level for trainer Neville Parnham and her appeal as a broodmare is also heightened by the exploits of her dam Ellicorsam (Aus) (Fimiston {Aus}) whose ten wins included the G1 Swettenham Stud S. in 2006. Sunday’s sale contained a mixture of yearlings, weanlings, broodmares and racehorses and the second most expensive horse sold was actually a half-sister to the topper and the last offering of the day, lot 196. Ellibuba (Aus), a year younger daughter of So You Think (NZ) sold to Darling View Thoroughbreds for A$60,000. Overall 133 horses changed hands during the day for a total of A$1,343,650, giving a clearance rate of 75% and an average of A$10,102. Sunday’s auction was the last to be held by Magic Millions at Belmont and the company’s WA manager David Houston said, “There’s been a lot of history here at Belmont but we are looking to the future with our new purpose built complex in the Swan Valley now in development. It’s a very exciting time and we can’t wait to be at the new complex in February for our feature yearling sale. View the full article

Mighty Maverick kept the dream alive for Derek Cruz and the embattled trainer now needs six wins in six meetings to retain his licence after a big day for the battlers at Sha Tin. Cruz has already indicated that he will not apply for a licence for next season if he doesn’t reach the minimum benchmark of 16 wins but his son Martin said the stable hasn’t given up. “We know the situation but we are going to keep on fighting – it’s win or go home – but we still... View the full article

Mighty Maverick kept the dream alive for Derek Cruz and the embattled trainer now needs six wins in six meetings to retain his licence after a big day for the battlers at Sha Tin. Cruz has already indicated that he will not apply for a licence for next season if he doesn’t reach the minimum benchmark of 16 wins but his son Martin said the stable hasn’t given up. “We know the situation but we are going to keep on fighting – it’s win or go home – but we still... View the full article

A proud John Moore hopes more international travel is on the agenda for Werther after the horse proved he belongs on the world stage with his gallant second in Sunday’s Group One Takarazuka Kinen in Japan. The champion trainer had plenty of emotion in his voice after finishing a neck behind Mikki Rocket, disappointed at missing out on the main prize but full of pride for a horse who battled his heart out. “I don’t like running second, but from a Hong Kong point of view we... View the full article